I am back from vacation, well not exactly vacation. It is bit confusing. Let me explain. It was supposed to be vacation but turned out to be one from hell. First the flight that was supposed to land around 11:00 pm landed around 2:00 am, then another 2 hours in plane due to bad weather. Finally made it out of plane guess what, everything coming into the airport was blocked. That wasn’t the worst part of all. There wasn’t a single hotel with rooms available. Wait for it here comes the best part, rented car from Budget Car Rental and while I was napping my friend decided that wasn’t the right car and got it exchanged along with my stuff in it. Then comes calling to Budget, they were closed for weekend and on week days they were not interested in picking up the phone or even calling me back. Alas a phone call from budget just before my flight back to SLC to inform me that we returned the empty car even though my friend saw the GPS in the car and thought it belonged to the rental when returning the car. Lesson learned never renting car from budget ever again.

With all this hassle on vacation all I wanted was to relax when I came home. So I challenged myself to make a bread. Followed the recipe to exact and something wonderful happened. My house was smelling of fresh bread and that made me so happy. The bread was dense, soft and amazing.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups hot water (130 ° F.)
• ¾ Tbsp salt
• ¼ cup oil
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 ½ Tbsp Dough Enhancer
• 1 ½ Tbsp SAF Instant Yeast*
• 6-7 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour

• Mill about 6 cups of wheat in the Nutrimill on the medium setting.
• Add water, honey, oil, Dough Enhancer, salt and four cups of whole wheat flour to the Bosch Compact mixing bowl. Knead on speed 2.
• Add the yeast, and the remaining flour, until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl (the amount of flour used will depend on the moisture content of the wheat and other factors). Knead until the gluten is properly developed (12 – 18 minutes, depending on the protein content of wheat).
• Oil hands; remove dough from mixer, shape into loaves, and place in well-greased pans (use hand shortening). Let rise until double in size.
• Bake at 350 ° F. for 35 – 45 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and let cool on wire rack. Makes two, 24 oz. loaves.

By Chef Dave Prows –  from Sensible Cooking Cookbook

Since I have been back from my vacation, laziness has been my best friend. Just going out to eat not worrying about cleaning and cooking, sleeping till noon. Miss those days. I guess I got too used to it. Now that I am back and lagging behind on my work work and house work combined with my laziness, I find myself using more of my cookbooks then ever. Today is even better as everything was done and all I had to do was write this post, short and savory like Crepes.

I am huge sucker for crapes, specially the sweet dessert versions. Little bit of sweet whipped cream and fresh fruits, you’ve got dessert to die for. Oh! don’t forget the chocolate or caramel sauce. The savory version is equally good and so simple to prepare. And when the recipe is this easy, simple and tasty, there is hardly any changes needed.  Here is the recipe, ENJOY!!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 Cups milk
• 2 Large eggs
• 2 Tbsp butter (melted)

Method:

• Mix flour, salt and milk in Bosch Blender.
• Add eggs and melted butter and mix thoroughly.
• Chill batter for 1 hour.
• Coat bottom of 6″ crepe pan with vegalene cooking spray.
• Pour 2 Tbsp batter into pan. Tilt pan in all direction so batter covers bottom. Cook 1 minute or until crepe can be shaken loose.
• Turn crepe over and cook an additional 30 seconds.
• Place crepe on a cloth towel to cool.
• Repeat with remaining batter
• Store in airtight container.

Tip:

Place cooked crepes between sheets of wax paper to prevent sticking together.

Stuff it with your favorite veggies, salad or meat to make an amazing sandwich.

]]> http://sensiblecooking.org/uncategorized/crepes-savory-and-buttery/feed/ 18 http://sensiblecooking.org/uncategorized/2011-national-festival-of-bread/ http://sensiblecooking.org/uncategorized/2011-national-festival-of-bread/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:34:24 +0000 L'EQUIP http://sensiblecooking.org/?p=2722

Time to combine your baking hat with thinking cap and put together you prefect bread recipe: King Arthur Flour, Fleischmann’s Yeast and Kansas Wheat Commission are co-sponsoring the 2011 National Festival of Breads competition, which seeks the best yeast bread recipes from home bakers throughout the United States. The competition is open to home bakers ages 18 and up from all over the nation.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2010, amateur bakers can submit original recipes for Ethnic Breads, Rolls, Time-Saving and Easy Breads, and Whole Grain Breads, to NationalFestivalofBreads.com. A secure, easy-to-use form is available for bakers to enter recipes online; submissions will not be accepted by mail, fax, e-mail or phone. The deadline for entries is Feb. 7, 2011.

Judges will vet all entries and select eight finalists, each of whom will receive airfare to and accommodations in Wichita, to participate in national competition events June 23-25, 2011. In addition, each finalist will receive a $500 cash award, participate in a Wheat Harvest Tour to a working Kansas wheat farm, flour mill and grain elevator, and take part in other activities.

Judges will evaluate the finalists’ yeast bread entries based on taste, originality, ease of preparation, healthfulness and appearance. One Grand Prize Winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to a baking class of his or her choice at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vt., a year’s supply of Fleischmann’s Yeast, plus $2,000 cash.

Find out more about the competition.

Nothing makes your morning worth while than fresh baked, warm muffin coming out of oven. Just imagine the smell around the house buttery, sweet etc, that is happy dance moment. I started my muffin baking when my parents were here for summer. They were both fascinated and amazed by my cooking. Well lets just put it this way, I wasn’t the best cook growing up.

So here is easy muffin recipe to enjoy your long weekend. Like promised in earlier post I will be posting lot of new recipe this week for you to help with memorial day cooking and enjoy your memorial day.

Ingredients:

Blueberry Muffin (Makes 18 muffins)
• 3 Cups Cake Flour
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 2 tsp. Mexican Vanilla
• Blueberries

Method:

• Sift all dry ingredients together and set aside.
• Cream Butter and Sugar using cookie paddles until light and fluffy in Bosch Mixer. Switch to batter whisk and add eggs one at a time. Mix well.
• Add Sour Cream and Vanilla and mix. While mixer is turned off, add all dry ingredients. Using speed one, mix only until incorporated. Fold in Blueberries.
• Bake at 375 for 18 minutes. Enjoy the fresh muffin with smoothie.